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It's a really smart, faithful adaptation of the book. The book is such a tight page-turner. The character I play is an extreme guy. He's a killer. He wants to be Jesse James. He grew up watching cowboy and Indian movies and wants to be that. Then he meets Mickey Rourke's character, who's named The Black Bird and he wants to partner up with him and be a criminal and kill people. He's a psychotic and very bad guy:

Joseph Gordon Levitt#15

ActingAdaptationCharacterMoviesViolence

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker describes playing a character in a faithful book adaptation who is a violent killer inspired by cowboy movies and wants to partner with another criminal.
In plain terms
I am acting a bad guy in a movie based on a book.
What can you take from it?
Acting often requires embodying extreme or negative characters.

Where it applies

  • interviews
  • castings
  • movie reviews

Putting it to work

  • discussing roles
  • analyzing scripts

Questions to consider

  • How does an actor prepare for a villainous role?

Another view

This is an actor describing a role rather than offering universal wisdom.

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